Study Claims Telemed Abortions Safe for Women Despite Deaths

A new study conducted by a pro-abortion research group based in California claims the use of telemed abortions — giving women the abortion drug without physician supervision — is safe. But pro-life advocates say that’s not the case.

Daniel Grossman, an assistant clinical professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco and an associate with Ibis Reproductive Health, conducted the study. He says three-fourths of the women in the study who decided to obtain the abortion drug via a Skype connection with a physician rather than after an in-person consultation, preferred not having the doctor in the room.

The study claimed 94 percent of the women who took the abortion drug with the telemedicine process were “very satisfied” and the study claims women had no more side effects or complications from the abortion dug who used the computer process than those who got the drug in person. However, 25 percent of the women using the webcam process said they would have preferred to see the abortion practitioner in person.

“I think that our study shows that the telemedicine model is being provided quite safely in Iowa, with identical outcomes as face-to-face visits,” Grossman told MSNBC about his study, which appeared in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. “Also, this is something women really like.”

MSNBC indicates the study involved 578 Iowa women who obtained the abortion drug at Planned Parenthood offices. Some 223 women signed up for obtaining the drug via the webcam process while 226 preferred to get the abortion drug in person. The women received an ultrasound at the abortion center because one is needed to determine whether an ectopic pregnancy is present — and usage of the mifepristone abortion drug in such cases can be life threatening.

The study indicates the abortion drug successfully destroyed the life of the unborn child in 99 percent of the cases with webcam abortions, and 97 percent of the time when the woman visited the abortion practitioner in person.

Steve Brody, the director of Dubuque County Right to Life in Iowa talked with LifeNews about the study and said he found it disconcerting that a study was done to show how satisfied women were with taking the life of their baby.

“I think it is tragic and a commentary on the world we live in when a report details the satisfaction and success rate of mothers killing their unborn babies,” he said. “I am not surprised one iota that a research study on killing unborn babies would come out with any other conclusion, given the fact that the lead author is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

“Planned Parenthood is in a funding free fall, and webcam abortions is their answer to generate profits, even at the expense and risk of women whom they claim to offer compassionate care to,” Brody added.

The telemed abortion process has concerned pro-life advocates and Arizona, Kansas, North Dakota, Nebraska and Tennessee have passed laws prohibiting abortion practitioners from dispensing the dangerous abortion drug with webcam.

The new study comes on the heels of the public availability of a new report the FDA issued detailing the extensive deaths and injuries of women using the RU 486 abortion drug.

The report indicates 14 women in the United States alone have died from using the mifepristone abortion drug and 2,207 women have been injured by it.

Of the women experiencing medical and physical problems resulting from the abortion drug, 612 women required hospitalizations, 339 experienced blood loss significant enough to require a transfusion, 256 experienced infections and 48 women experienced what the FDA labeled as “severe infections.” Given that the RU 486 abortion drug caused sepsis, a potentially lethal infection that resulted in the deaths of women from around the world, the “serious infections” were very likely life-threatening situations.

“Severe infections generally involve death or hospitalization for at least 2-3 days, intravenous antibiotics for at least 24 hours, total antibiotic usage for at least 3 days, and any other physical or clinical findings, laboratory data or surgery that suggest a severe infection,” the FDA report states.